tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816501027034309987.post1237108910270904080..comments2023-07-15T16:40:14.057+01:00Comments on Moon Over Endor: Rant: Light Sith WarriorAyanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13537754337752995833noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816501027034309987.post-28453978107158973632009-09-29T18:05:06.987+01:002009-09-29T18:05:06.987+01:00Hmmm, perhaps I should have said "attachment....Hmmm, perhaps I should have said "attachment." Because that's the thing about the Jedi that really bothers me morally. You're completely right that emotions as a class of responses aren’t forbidden to the Jedi – but for me, the ones that are linked to our deepest moral foundations are – especially the big two, love and hatred. But I think the Jedi are sentient (I don’t want to say human, at least not if I’m thinking in-universe, but that’s what I mean when I say that) beings, and thus cannot rid themselves completely of these attachments – I’d note that Mace Windu, though he’s one of the more philosophical Jedi and is big on the no-attachments and the whys and wherefores of this policy, has at least two major attachments – Deepa Bilaba (in Shatterpoint) and the Republic (in the RotS novelization – both by Matthew Stover). I think that’s evidence that if the Jedi explicitly avoid attachment, it usually pops up in other places. While I don’t necessarily agree entirely with Karen Traviss’s anti-Jedi stances and behaviors evidenced in her books, I do find it fascinating that both fans of clone-centric things such as her Republic Commando series AND fans of the Knights of the Old Republic series tend to be less enamored of the Jedi than the SW fandom as a whole.<br /><br />I think I share your disinclination to believe that “dark” and “light” automatically correspond to “evil” and “good” or even “wrong” and “right.” However, I think that the idea that power brings out corruptions and weaknesses inherent in the makeup of sentient beings (er, that’s a silly way of rephrasing “power corrupts,” I suppose) does tend to explain why most dark Jedi/Sith tend to be “evil.” As for your point about the Dark Side leading people to evil – I would say that’s a very good way to putting what I just said neatly – and hold up things like Jacen Solo or Anakin Skywalker as an example. Even if I think their storylines totally sucked. Perhaps Darth Revan would be a better example.<br /><br />As for playing a “good Sith,” since I’m not convinced that the “dark side” is inherently evil, nor that the “light side” is inherently good, I think that it comes down to why and what you do as either side. The kinds of powers are rather irrelevant, I think – I mean, you can be fully light-side in KotOR I and II and still use some of the nastier dark side powers, so I would assume that you’d be able to do the same without significant effect on your alignment in TOR.<br /><br />Plus, the whole classification of powers has always seemed a bit arbitrary to me – and I’ve been encouraged as signs in the literature that things like force lightning is moving away from a dark power only (NJO, Plo Koon’s “electric judgment”).<br /><br />Hope that makes sense.ibmillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16914380316134426353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816501027034309987.post-89374768589197232052009-09-29T17:47:56.110+01:002009-09-29T17:47:56.110+01:00I'm curious - do you actually think that the J...<i>I'm curious - do you actually think that the Jedi's abhorance of emotion is good? That the Sith's use of anger and passion are bad?</i><br /><br />Complex question.<br /><br />Let me first state that I don’t actually think that Jedi abhor emotion, that they just take effort to not let it control them. Their mastery of the Force comes from calm and meditation and a state of diminished emotion, but that doesn’t mean that they find emotion itself a bad thing. Compassion is something that’s ‘encouraged’.<br /><br />For the rest it is just the way the Star Wars universe, the Force in particular, is defined. To use the light side of the Force you need to be in a state of tranquillity and to use the dark side you need to be in an emotional state. Then the universe defines the light side of the Force as ‘good’ and the dark side as ‘evil’, thus stating that tranquillity pulls you towards good and surrendering to emotions towards evil.<br /><br />That’s not to say that using emotions to fuel your action is evil as such, just that in Star Wars it is defined that doing so means you use the dark side of the Force and the dark side of the Force pulls you towards evil. If the Force wasn’t involved then things would be different. As I understand it it’s not that evil people choose to use the dark side of the Force, but that using the dark side of the Force makes people evil.<br /><br />That means that the only way to be a good Sith would be to use the light side of the Force (predominantly) and to do that one needs to be tranquil (instead of fuelled by emotion). But it looks as if BioWare is going the path of “you use the dark side (or at least are fuelled by emotion) either way, but you can still be good”.<br /><br />Of course my understanding of how things are supposed to work in Star Wars could be wrong, but that’s the only explanation that really makes sense to me (as being passionate doesn’t mean that you’re evil, but a passionate Force user in Star Wars is).Ayanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13537754337752995833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816501027034309987.post-68612284351585144812009-09-29T06:07:14.021+01:002009-09-29T06:07:14.021+01:00I'm curious - do you actually think that the J...I'm curious - do you actually think that the Jedi's abhorance of emotion is good? That the Sith's use of anger and passion are bad? I personally find problems with both philosophies, and ways to be ethical within both philosophies. So yes, I think it might be harder to be good as a Sith in TOR, but I don't think it limits your choice to make ethical decisions as you imply.ibmillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16914380316134426353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816501027034309987.post-70510101900594175282009-09-09T17:30:51.254+01:002009-09-09T17:30:51.254+01:00Thanks for the run-down, Ayane.
It gave a cleare...Thanks for the run-down, Ayane. <br /><br />It gave a clearer understanding for exactly what you're interested in and I can now see where your previous "rant" comments are grounded.BakaMatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07118099921349368320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816501027034309987.post-76258174817098119092009-09-09T08:14:44.001+01:002009-09-09T08:14:44.001+01:00"Hi:
Two things
1) I’d like your permission..."Hi:<br /><br />Two things<br /><br />1) I’d like your permission to (re)print your article on The Clone Wars for our website<br /><br />2) I was hoping we could use your ‘scribing’ talent for our website.<br /><br />The Best Shows Youre Not Watching (dot) com [all one word]<br /><br />The Clone Wars is one of our featured shows. We’re hoping to round up a few people who can occasionally contribute perspective (via an article/blog) on the shows – maybe a recent episode, future direction, plot shortcomings etc.<br /><br />What’s in it for you?<br />Primarily a larger audience back channeled to your blog. We don’t pay but the site has a lot of promise and we're pretty excited about getting it off the ground. Let me know what you think.<br /><br />ThanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com